Vijender Singh Wife, Age, Olympic Medal, Politics, Movies, Records, Awards

Vijender Singh Beniwal is an Indian professional boxer. He was born in a Jat family in Kaluwas village, 5 kilometres from Bhiwani, Haryana. While his father Mahipal Singh Beniwal used to be a bus driver with the Haryana Roadways, his mother was a homemaker.

Vijender Singh went on to win bronze medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2009 World Championships and the 2010 Commonwealth Games. He also won silver medals at the 2006 and 2014 Commonwealth Games as an amateur in the middleweight division.

Vijender Singh turned professional in June 2015 and signed a multi-year agreement with Queensberry Promotions through IOS Sports and Entertainment. This move ruled him out of the 2016 Olympics team which would have been his fourth participation in the mega-event.

Date of Birth: 29 October 1985
Birthplace: Kaluwas, Bhiwani, Haryana, India
Nationality: Indian
Religion: Hindu

Boxing Career

World Championships: Bronze (Milan,2009)

Commonwealth Games: Silver in the welterweight category (Melbourne, 2006), Bronze (Delhi, 2010), Silver (Glasgow, 2014)
Asian Games: Bronze (Doha, 2006), Gold (Guangzhou, 2010)
Asian Championships: Silver (2007), Bronze (2009)

He was ranked No.1 in the world by the International Boxing Association in the middleweight (75 Kg) category in 2209.

Vijender Singh Politics

In April 2024, just before the 2024 Indian general election, he made a significant move by joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the party headquarters in New Delhi.

Vijender Singh joined Indian National Congress Party in April 2019 before the Lok Sabha elections.

Movies

Vijender made his Bollywood debut in 2014 with movie ‘Fugly.’

Awards

Arjuna Award (2006)
Padma Shri (2010)
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (2009)

Vijender Singh Wife

On 17 May 2011, Vijender Singh got married to Archana Singh and the couple also has a son, Arbir Singh.

Controversies

• Singh was given a 2 point penalty at the 2010 commonwealth games. He came 20 seconds late before the end of the bout which prompted the referee to penalize him with 2 points.
• Punjab Police in 2013 alleged that Singh bought heroin from an NRI many times. However, he was given a clean chit by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) upon investigation.

Lesser known Facts

• He is the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal.
• He is the only boxer to recieve the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award apart from Mary Kom.
• He once had a job to protect the actress Priyanka Chopra from the crowd during a rally in Pune.
• Vijender Singh has served Haryana Police as a DSP under sports quota.